Thomas Kelley

WILMA WALLS' STORY

A Taxi Cab Ride Turns Deadly

On Saturday March 13, 1976, Wilma Walls, a 47-year-old wife and mother of seven children, called a cab to take her to the grocery store. At approximately 8:30 p.m., Safety Cab Company taxi cab driver Thomas Eugene Kelley picked up Mrs. Walls. On the way to the store, Kelley began propositioning Mrs. Walls in an effort to get her to have sex with him. Mrs. Walls told Kelley to “stop it.” She became scared and started shaking. Mrs. Walls told Kelley to “stop the car” several times.

Seeing Mrs. Walls shaking, Kelley pulled the cab over to the side of a field. Mrs. Walls immediately opened the cab door and started running for her life. Kelley then got out of the cab and chased her down and tackled her. According to Kelley, while he was wrestling around on the ground with Mrs. Walls, he became aroused. Kelley stated, “I guess I kind of forced her to get naked with me.” Kelley then raped Mrs. Walls. After raping her, Kelley then got up and started to walk away.

When Mrs. Walls started screaming, Kelley ran back and started wrestling with Mrs. Walls again. Kelley said he became aroused again and raped Mrs. Walls a second time. Mrs. Walls kept screaming while Kelley was raping her. Kelley took off his belt, wrapped it around Mrs. Walls’ throat, and told Mrs. Walls to shut up. Kelley stated he pulled the belt a little too tight because, the next thing he knew, she was dead. Kelley then fled the scene.

When Mrs. Walls did not return home, her family frantically began searching for her. On March 19, 1976, their search came to an end when a farmer plowing a field found Mrs. Walls’ body in a drainage ditch. When police found Mrs. Walls body, she was badly beaten. Her blouse was ripped open, with several buttons missing. The blouse was used to bind Mrs. Walls’ arms behind her. Her pants were removed and one pant leg was tied tightly around her throat. Mrs. Walls’ underwear were tied around her ankles. Police also found a man’s belt next to Mrs. Walls. The belt had the name “Thomas” written in blue ink on the inside of it.

A History of Violent Behavior

Police located Kelley at his mother’s house and arrested him on March 25, 1976. Kelley then spent the next several hours leading police on a wild goose chase. He took them to houses and bars where he claimed to have gone to after he picked up Mrs. Walls. At every location, no one could identify him. While driving back to Columbus, Kelley finally admitted that he could have killed the lady in question, but did not remember. He also stated he did things in the past which he did not remember. Kelley stated Mrs. Walls made him mad and he also mentioned his Marine Sergeant made him mad when he was in Vietnam. Kelley told police he was going to kill the Marine Sergeant, however several other Marines restrained him and took his gun away before he could kill the Marine Sergeant. In the same breath, Kelley said he feels like killing his mother-in law sometimes.

After Kelley’s arrest, it was learned that Kelley was an extremely violent ex-con. Kelley had been committing crimes since he was 15. He had a two-page rap sheet dating back to 1967. He was on probation for auto theft when he killed Wilma Walls. He also had a warrant for his arrest due to an assault on his estranged wife. Kelley’s wife stated he had a very bad temper and would become extremely violent. She said he had assaulted both her and their 20-month-old daughter on multiple occasions. She stated he would forget or deny his actions the following day. Kelley had also served time in the Lima State Mental Hospital, where he was considered to be a “Psychopathic Offender.” In addition, Kelley openly confessed he killed Wilma Walls to a fellow inmate while sitting in jail.

Based on the overwhelming evidence, which included Kelley’s belt being found at the crime scene and a button from Mrs. Walls’ blouse found in his taxi cab, Kelley took a plea deal rather than going to trial and facing the death penalty. He pled guilty to rape and voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced from 12-50 years in prison.

Poor Rehabilitation

Kelley’s prison records indicate that he has not done much to rehabilitate himself. As of 2007 (the last records available from the Ohio Department of Corrections), Kelley had taken a minimal number of classes. He had not taken a victim awareness class and he had not taken the comprehensive sex offender program. In 2004, the parole records state, “Pattern of resistance to discussion makes inmate an unacceptable risk to the community.” In 2007, the records state, “Inmate has not participated in and/or completed relevant institutional programming to address his criminal history; this makes him a more serious risk to the community. He does not have a reasonable release plan and limited community support.” Considering Kelley had done nothing in 31 years to rehabilitate himself, we find it difficult to believe that he has a made some amazing transformation in the last five years.

No Parole

Thomas Kelley brutally murdered a wife and mother of seven children. He is a diagnosed psychopath who has never taken responsibility for his actions. In addition, Kelley has done almost nothing in over three decades to address his criminal behavior. Releasing Thomas Kelley will pose an incredible risk to the community and would deny justice for Wilma Walls. Based on the facts above, and that Thomas Kelley brutally raped and killed a complete stranger, we believe Thomas Kelley should be required to serve his maximum sentence of 50 years in prison.